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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: band · kid · snap · saw · fork · mine · row · kick

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. band — a music group
  3. kid — child
  4. row — a line
  5. row — to paddle
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to click
  11. saw — the tool
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. fork — in a road
  16. kid — to tease
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. saw — the tool
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. kick — in football
  22. band — a ring
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com